Paull Hobom Shin (

Korean name Korean names are names that place their origin in, or are used in, Korea. A Korean name in the modern era typically consists of a surname followed by a given name, with no middle names. A number of Korean terms for names exist. For full names, ...

Shin Hobom; ; September 27, 1935 – April 12, 2021) was an American politician and educator who served as a member of the

Washington State Senate The Washington State Senate is the upper house of the Washington State Legislature. The body consists of 49 members, each representing a district with a population of nearly 160,000. The State Senate meets at the Washington State Capitol, Legis ...

, the first

Korean American Korean Americans () are Americans of full or partial Korean ethnic descent. While the broader term Overseas Korean in America () may refer to all ethnic Koreans residing in the United States, the specific designation of Korean American impli ...

ever elected to the Washington State Legislature. Shin was a member of the Democratic Party, elected from the 21st Legislative District, in southwest

Snohomish County Snohomish County () is a county located in the U.S. state of Washington. With a population of 827,957 as of the 2020 census, it is the third-most populous county in Washington, after nearby King and Pierce counties, and the 72nd-most popul ...

. Cities within the district include Mukilteo and portions of Everett, Edmonds, and Lynnwood. Senator Shin served on the Senate Agriculture, Water & Rural Economic Development and Trade & Economic Development Committees.

Early life and education

Shin was born in

Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...

in 1935. Orphaned at the age of four, he lived on the streets of

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

begging for food until the outbreak of the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

in 1950, at which point he became a houseboy to a group of

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

officers. In 1954, one of them, a dentist named Ray Paull, adopted Shin and took him home to

Salt Lake City, Utah Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Salt ...

. Despite never having been educated in Korea, and knowing little English, Shin completed a

GED Ged or GED may refer to: Places * Ged, Louisiana, an unincorporated community in the United States * Ged, a village in Bichiwara Tehsil, Dungarpur District, Rajasthan, India * Delaware Coastal Airport, in Delaware, US, callsign GED People * Ged B ...

in 18 months. Shin went on to earn a BA in political science from

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU) is a Private education, private research university in Provo, Utah, United States. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is the flagship university of the Church Educational System sponsore ...

, an MPIA from the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The university is composed of seventeen undergraduate and graduate schools and colle ...

, and an MA and PhD from the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

Political career

After being elected to the Washington State House of Representatives in 1992, Shin ran for the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

in Washington's 2nd district in 1994 and for Washington lieutenant governor in 1996, losing by a narrow margin in each race. He was elected to the Washington State Senate in 1998. On January 7, 2014, Shin resigned from the Washington State Senate effective immediately following his diagnosis with

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease and the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As the disease advances, symptoms can include problems wit ...

Death

Shin died on April 12, 2021, in

Edmonds, Washington Edmonds is a city in Snohomish County, Washington, United States. It is located in the southwest corner of the county, facing Puget Sound and the Olympic Mountains to the west. The city is part of the Seattle metropolitan area and is located ...

, at the age of 85.

References

External links

Senator Shin's speech to 1999 KAAN Conference

Official State Legislature website
* https://web.archive.org/web/20100108115259/http://www.dil.aber.ac.uk/dils/Research/RFocus9/html_a_k.htm * https://web.archive.org/web/20070928011650/http://nwlink.com/~scpnwan/articles/06-20-98/shin.html {{DEFAULTSORT:Shin, Paull 1935 births 2021 deaths Democratic Party Washington (state) state senators Democratic Party members of the Washington House of Representatives Brigham Young University alumni University of Pittsburgh alumni University of Washington alumni American politicians of Korean descent Asian-American people in Washington (state) politics American adoptees South Korean adoptees People with Alzheimer's disease People from Paju Politicians from Gyeonggi Province Geochang Shin clan Candidates in the 1994 United States elections Candidates in the 1996 United States elections Asian American state legislators in Washington 20th-century members of the Washington State Legislature 21st-century members of the Washington State Legislature